Ferrotype-print-drying machine



April 15 1924.

F. L. SMITH FERROTYPE PRINT DRYING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOI? firm/l L. Gm if wasw April 15, 1924.

1 F. L. SMITH FERROTYPE PRINT DRYING MACHINE l1 TTOR/VEYS 2 v m4 w W s t 7 6-V 0O Q B H 5 w J 2 9a 2 1 6y W 6 e F,

Patented Apr. 15, I924.

UMTED stares FRANK LiAW'BENCE SMITH, OF EL PASO, TEXAS.

FERRO TYPE-PRINT- Application filed July 12,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK LAWRENCE SMITH, a citizen of the United States, and. a resident of El Paso, in the county of El Paso and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in l errotype-Prilit-Drying Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is a device adapted for use in drying ferrotype prints or the like, and it consists in the combinations, constructions and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An. object of my invention is to provide a device of simplified construction whicn has means for movably supporting a plurality of prints in such manner that all portions of the prints are subjected to the action of a drying force.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described which includes means for causing a continuous circulation of drying fluid therethrough and for distributing the drying fluid within. the drying chamber of the device.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described which is constructed in such manner as to elfect delivery "of the dried prints to a position from whichthey can be removed readily.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly outlined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which like reference characters indicate like "parts throughout the specification,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying m invention, a portion of the casing thereof being broken away,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine, the view being taken at right angles to that shown in Fig. 1, i

Fig. 2) is a section along i ig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a section along Fig.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a casing 1 which comprises a bottom 2, similar front and rear walls 3-3, vertical side walls a and 5 respectively, and a top or cover 6. The casing parts enumerated are preferably formed of sheet metal and the line 3-3 of the line 4i-'4t of cured.

DRYING MACHINE.

1922. Serial NO. 574,471.

may be made separately and secured together in any suitable known manner or maybe integral w1th one another.

The casing 1 is supported upon a frame 7 including a plurality of upright legs or frame members 8 upon which the bottom 2 rest-s and to which the bottom plate is se The legs 8 are connected adjacent to their lower ends by a horizontal supporting plate 9 which supports the drive mechanism of the machine and certain appurtenant parts, as will presently appear. The bottom 2 extends beyond the plane of the sides 3-3 and the extensions 10--10 thereof are bent upwardly adjacent to their outer edges as indicated at ll--l1, thereby pro viding laterally extending shelves or receptacles each having a retaining flange along its outer edge and being adapted for a purpose which will be hereinafter set forth. The shelf extensions l010 are supported aojacent to their outer edges by in- (lined braces 1212 which are attached at their lower ends to certain of the legs 8.

Each of the vertical sides 3-3 is provided with'a relatively large aperture in its upper part which is normally closed by a pair of doors 13 man. respectively, the door 13 being attached thereto'by'hinges 15 at its upper edge and the door 14 being attached thereto at its lower edge by hinges 16. The doors 1.?) and 14.- abut each other along their edges remote from the ed e' portions thereof which are hingedly attached to one of the sides 3-3 when the doorsare in closed position. Any suitable means (none being shown), may be provided for normally and reloasaliily maintaining the doors 13 and 14 in closed position. F or example, the contacting portions of the two doors may frictionally engage each other in such. manner as to normally prevent movement of the doors from closed position. Knobs 17 are attached to the doors adjacent to their free ends to provide convenient means for effecting movement of the doors, when desired. Each of the sides 3 is provided also with an opening in its lower part and extending to the lower end thereof, which opening is normally closed by a door 18 swingingly supported along its upper edge on the body of the side 3 by means of hinges 19. A false bottom 20 extends between the sides 3-3 of the casingand terminates short. of the front and rear walls of the casing to afford space adjacent to each. of the front and rear walls through which upright standards 21 21 resting upon the bottom 2 project. The standards 2]., 21 may be secured to the bottom 2 by any suitable fastoning means and spaced apart, as stated. A. horizontal shaft 22 is journalled in bearin gs formed at the upper ends of the standards 21. 21 and extends in parallel relation to the sides 3-3 approximately midway between the latter. A drum 23 of a'size to occupy the major portion of the space between the walls of the casing above the false bottom 20. is secured upon the shaft or axle 22 and includes radial arms 24 connected at their outer ends by rim sections 25 and each being formed with a longitudinally extend ing slot 26 open at the outer end thereof and being adapted to receive and hold ferrotype plates in position.

The false bottom 20 comprises two symmetrical, inclined end portions joined or contacting along their remote edges with the bottom 2 at the juncture of the latter with the sides 33 and being inclined or convergent toward a line extending midway between the sides 3, along which line the inclined portions of the false bottom are merged one into the other. In consequence, plates or prints discharged from the drum 23 upon the false bottom 20 will move by gravity toward the sides 3 3 along the inclined portions of the false bottom and when the doors 18-18 are open. toe prints or plates will move through the openings in the lower parts of the sides 3 3 upon the shelf extensions 1010.

My invention provides means for causing a circulation of heated air through the interior of the casing 1 and for delivering the air supplied to the interior of the casing 1. throughout all parts of the latter. Such means includes a blower fan 27 supported upon the plate 9 and having the intake side thereof connected by means of a suitable conduit 28 with the interior of the casing 1 below the level of the apex of the false bottom 20. The discharge side of the blower fan 27 discharges into a conduit 22 having interposed therein or associated therewith a heating agency 30 which may be a gas or electric stove, or the like. The discharge conduit 29 communicates with the interior of the case 1. above the level of the false bottom 20 through a distributor conduit 31. The distributor conduit connects the end of the discharge conduit 29 remote from the fan 27 with the walls of a relatively large opening formed through the side 5 of the case. The walls of the distributor casing diverge from their juncture with the walls of the discharge conduit to their juncture with the walls of the opening in the side 5. A plurality of spaced baftle partitions 32 extend longitudinally of. the distributor conduit 31 and lie in planes inclined in respect to the horizontal and diverging from their ends proximate to the can 5f the dis charge conduit 29 toward their opposite ends. The baffle partitions 32 are intersected by baflle partitions extending longitudinally of the distributor conduit 3! and lying in vertical planes diverging from the ends thereof adjacent to the end of the discharge conduit toward the casing l. With the organization described. a fluid forced through the discharge conduit 29 into the distributor conduit 31 will be diliuscd in the latter and will pass through the separate passages defined by the intersecting baffle partitions into the interior of the case l and distributed uniformly throughout the interior of the case.

My invention provides means for rotating the drum 23 continuously during the operation of the device in order that the drying action occasioned by the (h r-barge of a heated fluid upon the prints carried by the drum may be aided and all portions of the prints subjected unifori'i'lly to the action of the drying fluid. Any suitable means for driving the drum at a relatively low speed may be employed. The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings includes a sprocket 34: fixedly secured to the hub of the drum or wheel 23 at one end thereof and being engaged by a chain 35 extcmlingdownwardly along the vertical wall at through a suitable opening in the bottom 2 into engagement with a sprocket which is secured to a worm 37 at one end of the latter. The worm is a part of a speed reduction mechanism which is supported upon the plate 9 and which may be of any suitable known type of construction. The speed reduction mechanism included in the present Qllll)0(lll1101lt of the mechanism is shown more or less diagrammatically and is indicated generally at 33. This mechanism connects the worm 37 with the shaft of the blower fan 27, the latter being connected as indcated at 40 with a ii'iotor 39. The prints to be dried are introduced into the case 1 through the openings which are normally closed by the doors 13 and l t and are placed in the drum The motor 39 is then actuated to operate lOQ the blower fan 27 and to effect rotation of the wheel 23 at a relatively reduced speed. lVhen the prints are dry,.they fall upon the false bottom 20, and move by gravity along the inclined portions of the latter against the doors 18-18 and when the latter are opened the prints will move into the receptacles 10-10. The blower fan 27 draws air from the interior of the casing 1 and discharges the air after it has been heated by the heating agency 30.

From the foregoing description of the rarious parts of the device, the operation thereof may be readily understood. The heated air discharged from the blower fan is diffused throughout the interior of the casing above the false bottom 20 and between the arms 24; which carry the prints to be dried. It is to be observed at this point that the intake of the blower fan connnuni cates with the interior of the case 1. below the level of the apex of the false bottom 20 and in consequence the suction created by the operation of the blower fan within the lower part of the case 1 does not preclude the thorough diffusion of the heated air discharged through the upper part of the case chamber throughout the latter and into contact with the prints carried by the drum or wheel.

bviously, my invention is susceptible of embodiments in forms other than that herein described and illustrated and I therefore conside' as my own all such modifications and adaptations thereof as fairly fall within the spirit and scone of the invention outlined in the appended claims.

I claim 1. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a bottom and pairs of substantially vertical walls, the walls of one pair having normally closed openings therethrough adjacent to their lower ends, a false bottom having inclined portions sloping to said openings in the walls, and means for supporting articles above the false bottom. i

2. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber therein, said chamber being provided with a bottom, a false bottom disposed within the chamber and having portions sloping from a line substantially midway between opposite sides of the case to the juncture of said sides with the bottom, a rotatable member supported above the false bottom and being adapted to support articles to be dried, a blower fan positioned below the bottom of the chamber, conduit communicating with the chamber between the level of the bottom thereof and the level of the apex portion of the false bottom and being connected at its end remote from the chamber with the intake side of the blower fan, a conduit for delivering air from the blower fan into the chamber above the level of the false bottom, means for guiding the blower fan, and means driven by said driving means for driving the rotatable member at a relatively reduced speed.

8. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a bottom and with substantially vertical side walls, one of said side walls having an opening therethrough at its lower end, and a swingingly supported door for closing the opening, a false bottom having an intermediate portion spaced from the floor of the chamber and being inclined so that the apex portion thereof rests upon the floor of the chamber in the plane of the opening through the Wall, and means for supporting articles within the chamber above the false bottom.

4:. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a bottom and with substantially vertical side walls, one of said side walls having an opening therethrough at its lower end and a swingingly supported door for closing the opening, a false bottom having an intermediate portion spaced from the floor of the chamber and being inclined so that the apex portion thereof rests upon the floor of the chamber in the plane of the opening through the wall, means for supporting articles with-i in the chamber above the false bottom, and a shelf extension to said bottom for receiving articles moving by ravity down the inclined portion of the falsebottom through the opening in said side.

5. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a vertical wall having a relatively large opening therethrough, and a distributor conduit joined at one end to the 'walls of said opening, said distributor conduit having intersecting baflies disposed therein for diffusing a fluid passing therethrough into the chamber.

6. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a vertical wall having a relatively large open ing therethrough, and a distributor conduit joined at one end to the walls of said opening, said distributor conduit having walls converging from the end thereof joined to the walls of the opening and having a plurality of longitudinally extending intersecting baffle partitions arranged between the walls thereof for separating and diffusing the fluid passing through said conduit into the chamber.

7. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a vertical wall having a relatively large opening therethrough, and a distributor conduit joined at one end to the walls of said opening, said distributor conduit having walls converging from the end thereof joined to the walls of the opening and having a plurality of baflle partitions extending longitudinally thereof and lying in vertical planes, and a plurality of other baffle partitions intersecting the first named battle partitions and lying in planes inclined in respect to the horizontal, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a device of the character described, a case having a chamber provided with a lateral opening, a false bottom disposed within the chamber and having an inclined portion sloping to said lateral opening, and a rotatable article supporting wheel disposed within said chamber above said false bottom.

FRANK LAWRENCE SMITH. 

